Background

Mr. Randy A. Garfield has been an Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales & Travel Operations for Disney Destinations business unit of The Walt Disney Company since 2000. Mr. Garfield leads the worldwide sales, convention services and distribution marketing efforts for the Disneyland Resort; Walt Disney World Resort; Disneyland Paris; Hong Kong Disneyland Resort; Shanghai Disney Resort (scheduled to open at the end of 2015); Disney Cruise Line; Disney Vacation Club; ... Adventures by Disney; Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Hawaii; and Golden Oak, a luxury residential community at the Walt Disney World Resort. He also oversees Disney Destinations’s reservations operations at each of Disney’s resort destinations, and he provides strategic and tactical business direction to Disney Sports Enterprises. He has been President of Walt Disney Travel Company since December 1993 and leads one of the country's largest travel wholesalers. He is a seasoned Disney executive, he joined The Walt Disney Company in December 1993 as Senior Vice President of Sales & Travel Operations for Disney Destinations. Under his leadership, the Disney Destinations Sales team was named the top sales team among all travel and hospitality companies nationwide by the editorial board of Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. At Disney, he has played a prominent role in developing the sales strategies for its significant expansions. Mr. Garfield has also led the sales strategy for the openings of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Hong Kong Disneyland, Aulani and Disney California (including its 2012 expansion and re-launch). He has helped plan and drive sales for Disney’s milestone celebrations, including the Walt Disney World 25th Anniversary Celebration, the Millennium Celebration, the global commemoration of 50 years of Disney theme parks, Magic Your Way, Year of a Million Dreams, Let the Memories Begin, the Disneyland Paris 15th and 20th anniversaries, and the 5th anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland. His career began at TWA, where he worked as a part-time Reservation Sales Agent while he was a student at UCLA. In his 11 years with the airline, he held a variety of operations, marketing and sales management positions. In 1983, he joined Royal Viking Line as Vice President of Sales-Southwest Region. Three years later, he served as Vice President of Sales for Universal Studios Hollywood, where he led the resort’s worldwide sales efforts. He joined the Universal Florida team on a full-time basis in August 1989 as Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing, and also served as member of the executive team that formulated the plans to expand that resort. He served as Chairperson of Travel Industry Association of America. He serves on the Board of Directors of Brand USA. He serves as a Director of Travel Industry Association of America. He serves as a Director of Corporation for Travel Promotion. He serves as a member of the U.S. Travel Association Board of Directors and served as its Chairman in 1997 and is actively involved as co-chair of the Leisure Travel council, which developed the Travel Effect. He served as Chairman of the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau and held key leadership and executive roles for a number of influential industry organizations, including the Florida Commission on Tourism (Visit Florida), the Academy of Travel & Tourism, the Tourist Development Council (Orange County, Florida), the Southeast Tourism Society, the Association of Travel Marketing Executives (ATME), the Institute of Certified Travel Agents (ICTA), the California Travel Industry Association (CALTIA), the California Travel & Tourism Commission and the Tourism Association of Southern California. Because of his significant contributions to travel and tourism over more than four decades, he has been recognized as one of the extraordinary sales and marketing minds in the industry by Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) and included on that organization’s “Hot List of Top 25” for 2005, 2007 and 2008. Mr. Garfield has received the Travel Weekly Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the SoCal ASTA Diamond Award, honoring leaders who have made significant and lasting contributions to the industry.

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